Narrowed trade gap seen as good for LI businesses

Even though G-20 leaders failed Friday after their two-day summit in Asia to agree on measures to settle trade and investment disputes, recent news that the U.S. trade gap narrowed slightly in September bodes well for Long Island businesses, said local economists and business leaders.

Exports of goods remained about the same, totaling $107.6 billion, while imports of goods decreased $2.2 billion to $164.4 billion. Services exports, such as business, professional and technical services, were up $500 million, and services imports were up by $300 million.

The uptick in service exports is good news, said Pearl Kamer, chief economist of the Long Island Association. That's an area the United States has a competitive advantage in - providing sophisticated business services.

If the increase continues, "Long Island companies, including small businesses, will have greater opportunities in the global marketplace," she said, though smaller businesses will need to develop a better understanding of global markets, finance and partnering.

With "largely a service economy on Long Island," that export figure looks favorable, said Martin Melkonian, an economics professor at Hofstra University in Hempstead. But "we need a much stronger medicine than a small uptick in the export of services. That's not the thing to bring Long Island out of its current problems." He said it will take the federal government "pumping more money into states and local government . . . directly spending to create jobs."

While the weaker dollar, which helped bring about the more favorable trade balance, is helpful, product innovation is the key to driving customer demand, said Steven Tiffen, president and chief executive of The Tiffen Co. in Hauppauge.

Exports make up about 30 percent to 35 percent of business, which manufactures and supplies photographic filters and lens accessories for consumers and the movie and television industries. "We've spent a lot of time re-engineering core products," Tiffen said. "It's about adding more value."

From January to September, his export sales have been up about 12 percent, he said, with the biggest jumps coming in Europe and Asia.

Patrick Lavelle, president and chief executive of Audiovox Corp., a Hauppauge-based marketer of consumer electronics, automotive entertainment, vehicle security and remote start systems, said he's been seeing a "slight uptick in demand" for exports to Mexico and South America, "slowly improving as the year progressed."